Stephen Hilder

Most people who try skydiving do it just once – it’s something to tick off the bucket list. But for a small minority, skydiving becomes an obsession, a way of life. While accidents are expected, skydiving deaths are uncommon. On the rare occasion that a jumper loses their life, a universal toast is given: “Blue skies, black death.”

So when 20-year-old Stephen Hilder perishes in a skydiving accident during the 2003 British Collegiate Parachute Association Championship Skydiving Competition, questions quickly arise. Was Stephen’s death a tragic accident or the result of sabotage?